Denver's bike-sharing program may be unconstitutional, says candidate for governor

Is Denver's B-Cycle program nothing but a form of U.N. control of the city? The Republican gubernatorial frontrunner thinks so.

BIKES BEWARE: Denver's B-Cycle program may be form of U.N. control. (Photo: denverjeffrey/Flickr)

Is a fleet of 40 bikes carrying the city of Denver down a road that leads to United Nations control? That’s what Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes believes. According to The Denver Post, “Maes is warning voters that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's policies, particularly his efforts to boost bike riding, are ‘converting Denver into a United Nations community.’ ”

"This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed," Maes told about 50 supporters who showed up at a campaign rally last week in Centennial. (Hickenlooper is also running for governor.) In a later interview Maes said that he once supported the mayor’s efforts to promote cycling and other environmental initiatives. But he now realizes “that is exactly the attitude they want you to have.”

Maes goes on to say that this issue could threaten our personal freedoms and they are much more than “just warm, fuzzy ideas from the mayor.”

He is referring to Denver’s membership in the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. The ICLEI is an association that promotes the sustainable development of more than 1,200 communities – 600 of which are in the United States. Eric Brown, Hickenlooper’s spokesman, said the city’s contact with the organization is “limited.”

Denver became a member of the group in 1992, more than a decade before Hickenlooper became mayor.

The article in The Denver Post says, “George Merritt, a spokesman for the Hickenlooper gubernatorial campaign, said the group's goal is 'to bring cities from all over the world together to share best practices and help create the kinds of communities people want to live and do business in. John Hickenlooper believes collaboration leads to smart decisions.’ ”

Private donors and various grants fund the city’s B-Cycle bike-sharing program. Hickenlooper has an established track record promoting bicycling as a healthy and eco-friendly way for people to commute to work. Last week he even offended some auto dealers when at an event he asked, “How do we wean ourselves off automobiles?”

Maes says the B-Cycle program is promoted by a group that puts the environment above citizens’ rights.

He also said that the ICLEI — and by extension, the U.N. — is "signing up mayors across the country, and these mayors are signing on to this U.N. agreement to have their cities abide by this dream philosophy."

By his own admission, Maes’ theories may sound “kooky,” but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming the frontrunner in the Aug. 10 primary for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.